1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil filter assembly of an automobile, and more particularly to an oil filter assembly, in which foreign material contained in oil circulating in an engine is filtered off by means of a filter member, and simultaneously is condensed and eliminated by means of magnets, so that the assembly has a superior lubrication capability, and in which only the filter paper has to be replaced and the other elements can be used semi-permanently.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional oil filter assembly, which is employed in an automobile, so as to filter off impurities from an engine oil circulating in an oil circulation system of the automobile.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional oil filter assembly 1 generally includes a housing 10 having an open lower end and a sealing cover 20 fixed to the lower end of the housing 10 by a seaming joint. The sealing cover 20 has a hole 22 formed at a center of the sealing cover 20 and a packing ring 21 fixed to a lower surface of the sealing cover 20. A lower assembling member 30 is assembled on the hole 22 of the sealing cover 20 and has a boss 31 formed upward at a center thereof and a flange 32 formed at a lower end of the boss 31. The boss 31 has a discharging-and-assembling hole 33. A diaphragm valve 40 is disposed at an upper surface of introduction holes 34 formed at a flange 32 of the lower assembling member 30. A filter member 50 includes upper and lower plates 51 and 52, and a filtering net 53, a filter paper 54, and a punched plate 55 interposed between the upper and the lower plates 51 and 52. The lower plate 52 is assembled with an upper portion of the boss 31. An overflow valve 60 is disposed at a center portion of the upper plate 51 of the filter member 50 and protrudes downward, so as to control the quantity of the discharged oil. A spring 70 is disposed between the upper plate 51 of the filter member 50 and the top of the housing 10, so as to elastically press the filter member 50 downward.
In the conventional oil filter assembly 1, oil is supplied from an oil fan (not shown) by an oil pump 2 when an engine is operated. The supplied oil flows into the introduction holes 34 while pushing the diaphragm valve 40, and then passes through the filtering net 53, the filter paper 54, and the punched plate 55, so that the foreign material contained in the oil is filtered off. Thereafter, only the cleaned oil by filtering is supplied to lubrication parts of the engine through a lower portion of the central space of the filter member 50 and the discharging-and-assembling hole 33. The supplied oil is retrieved again into the oil fan after lubrication.
In this case, when the quantity of the oil introduced through the introduction holes 34 in the oil filter assembly 1 is too much, so that the pressure of the oil exceeds a predetermined value, the oil is discharged through an upper space in the oil filter assembly 1 and the overflow valve 60 into the central space of the filter member 50.
However, in the conventional oil filter assembly 1 as described above, since the cover 20, with which the lower assembling member 30 is assembled, and the housing 10 are fixed to each other by a seaming joint, the elements contained in the housing 10 cannot be separated after they are assembled with each other. Accordingly, in order to replace the filter member due to the degradation of the engine oil, the entire oil filter assembly 1 has to be replaced. In this regard, the conventional oil filter assembly is uneconomical.
Moreover, since it is nearly impossible to regenerate and reuse the conventional oil filter assembly 1, the conventional oil filter assembly 1 has to be deserted after its one-time life span. Especially when the deserted oil filter assembly 1 is not collected in a designated place and properly treated, the waste oil and impurities may be leaked from the oil filter assembly 1, thereby polluting the environment. Owing to the failure in the disposal of the oil filter, the expense for treating and deserting the used oil filter is increased, thereby causing an economical disadvantage.